


Fishing Expedition

by Tanaqui



Category: Haven - Fandom
Genre: M/M, Unrequited
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-17
Updated: 2013-08-17
Packaged: 2017-12-23 19:31:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/930237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tanaqui/pseuds/Tanaqui
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nathan gave Audrey his version of what happened when Duke tried to revive their friendship by inviting him fishing. Duke remembers it differently. Spoilers for <em>2.12 Sins of the Fathers</em>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fishing Expedition

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Scribbler for the beta.

"Are you sure there's any fish out here?" Nathan nodded at the rods in front of them.

Duke gave him a sideways glance. "Probably not," he admitted. Gazing back out over the flat ocean again—because sometimes looking at Nathan was too much—he took another swig of beer. Dutch courage. Soon....

"So why am I here?"

"Oh, you know...." 

Duke lost his train of thought as he looked up at Nathan from underneath his lashes. He couldn't help it. Couldn't help staring. Because the years he'd been away from Haven had treated Nathan well. And the years he'd been away had helped him figure out what _he_ wanted: from men as well as women.

He realized Nathan was still waiting for an answer, one eyebrow raised, a slight frown beginning to crease his forehead. Duke wanted to reach out and smooth the lines away with his fingertips. Except....

Except if Nathan didn't already know why he was out here, then maybe that meant....

Turning back to face the ocean, Duke barked a short laugh. "Oh, you know. Thought you could flash that police badge of yours at the Coastguard if they come sniffing round." He jabbed his beer bottle in the general direction of the water.

He sensed Nathan stiffen and, behind the slap of the waves and the chattering of the wind in the lines that never let up, a growing silence: a still, small center of terrible quiet where the other man sat. He risked another glance. _Oh crap._ The blue eyes that had been warm and eager when Nathan had climbed aboard the _Cape Rouge_ two hours earlier were now icy.

It seemed like an eternity to Duke before Nathan spoke, though it could have only been a few seconds, and when he did, the word came out like a bullet. An incredulous bullet. "What?" 

Duke raised his hands defensively. "Just kidding."

"No, you weren't." Nathan levered himself out of his chair, looming over Duke.

Hands now spread wide, Duke did his best to look innocent. Likely failing because, looking up at Nathan, in all his furious glory, he was thinking thoughts that were anything but innocent. "I swear. I was just kidding."

"No. You weren't," Nathan repeated, this time with a sharp shake of the head. Another long, hard look before—. "Take us back to shore."

"Now?" Duke raised his eyebrows. Maybe if he could keep Nathan out here a while longer, get him to calm down....

"Now." When Duke still didn't move, he added, "You want me to use my badge on _you_?" He waved a hand to indicate the rest of the _Cape Rouge_. "I'm sure I can find some kind of violation on this boat if I look hard enough."

"Okay, okay." Duke went on looking up at Nathan, wondering how he could have blown it so badly, while Nathan went on glaring down at him. At last, with a snort, Nathan turned and stalked away toward the stern of the boat.

Heading for the wheelhouse, Duke shook his head, kicking himself for that split-second lapse in confidence, for covering—as he always did—with a joke that was somehow never quite as funny or smart once it had left his lips as it had seemed in his head.

Glancing back at the hunched figure at the other end of the boat as he started the engine and put her into gear, he wondered if he should try again once they docked. Or if he'd ever be able to fix things between them.

**Author's Note:**

> I never quite believed the account Nathan gave Audrey of his fight with Duke—it contradicts too many other elements of canon—and I think Nathan had reasons to embellish his story. The fight could still have happened after this, though.


End file.
